Album: All Shook Down
Year: 1990
. . .
Still in love with nobody
“Nobody” just might be the greatest song Paul Westerberg has ever written.
It was most certainly the highlight of All Shook Down, the final studio album that the Replacements would ever release, and as we all know, even that was kinda bullshit.
As we all know, All Shook Down was originally going to be Paul Westerberg’s solo debut, and so it sports a cast of ringers, most noticeably on the drums, where far more precise drummers like Charley Drayton ruled the roost. Which to me, kinda stripped the charm from the rockers: part of the ‘Mats appeal was the unpredictability that Mars brought to the proceedings.
And so for the most part, to me, the rougher-edged songs felt forced and unnatural. Luckily, Westerberg was still writing and singing great songs, so that didn’t matter as much, not when a song was as poignant and catchy as “Nobody,” which started with a quick hit of intertwined acoustic guitars and a scene-setting first verse.
Heartaches, on your wedding day
Double takes when they look my way
Knees quake, there ain’t a shotgun in the place
You like the frosting, you just bought the cake
Your eyes can’t fake
Still in love with nobody
And I won’t tell nobody
Maybe it’s a bit of a wish-fulfillment song, an ex showing up to a wedding, but good lord, it was certainly a common enough thing in my peer group, and at least the ex in “Nobody” didn’t act like the ex in say, “L.A. County” Instead, he’s just observing, because he knows something that nobody knows.
The bridegroom
Drags you ‘cross that room
Said I do
But honey you were just a kid
Your eyes said I did
Still in love with nobody
(Nobody, nobody)
And I won’t tell nobody
The beauty of that chorus is all in the repetition of “nobody,” bouncing off of the snare drum and against itself — not quite a call-and-response, because I think it’s all Paul singing (unless it’s Tommy) — but serving the same purpose in terms of defining how important nobody is.
And, on the bridge, Tommy joins in with some really nice harmonies.
Take a look
On your wedding night
In your wedding book
See what name I signed
Hey
After that, there’s a guitar solo, maybe taken by Paul, probably maybe taken by Slim, but either way, breaking up the song nicely before the killer final verse & chorus:
Hips shake
To the band for old time’s sake
Now you make your getaway
And you’re waving to the stage
But on the last page says
Love nobody
(Nobody, nobody)
And I won’t tell nobody
(Nobody, nobody, nobody)
Yeah you’re still in love with nobody
(Nobody, nobody, nobody)
And I used to be nobody
(Nobody, nobody, nobody)
Not anymore
After that, they bring back the intertwined acoustic guitars, leading to a second guitar solo, because why not?
“Nobody” was the song that got me into All Shook Down, as I spent much of the fall of 1990 with it ringing in my head, and while I was initially put off by All Shook Down, I knew that if I listened hard enough, there would be other gems to be unearthed.
“Nobody”
“Nobody” live in San Francisco, 2015